The Cake
by FireEdge
Summary: A young Seto Kaiba sets out on a mission... for cake. However, things turn out a little differently than he had planned when he runs into a little girl who is rather quite lost. Oneshot. For Inali Grimalkin.


This was just a cute little idea that I thought up earlier today. My aim was to make it sweet enough to induce smiles (and cavities), and is dedicated to Inali Grimalkin (and to her cat Chester). She's had a horrible day today, and I hope that this will make her feel a little bit better.

Anyway, just a note: this takes place a couple of months after Kaiba and Mokuba have been adopted (so Kaiba hasn't snapped yet and turned into a cold-hearted jerk, haha). Also, Joey and Serenity's parents have been divorced for a year or two now and are still on rather bad terms.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**The Cake**

Seto took in a deep breath as he carefully peered around the door frame of the school's front entrance. He could just make out the figure of his chauffeur standing outside the gates.

_Good, if he's out front, the back should be clear_, the young boy thought to himself as he turned and strode briskly down the hallway towards the back door. Dodging a couple of stranglers hanging out near the exit, Seto glanced quickly outside before walking through the doorway.

With a smirk, he ran through the school yard, and out of the school grounds. After going up the street a slight ways and rounding the corner, he pulled out a piece of paper from his trouser pocket. It was folded in four and slightly rumpled. Opening up the flyer, he smoothed out the shiny paper before examining it.

The flyer was pink and white, with red swirly writing advertising the grand opening of a new bakery. There were pictures of both fancy and cute cakes along with the words: "SALE". Mokuba had showed him the flyer a few days ago, pointing out a chocolate lava cake topped with a maraschino cherry, saying that he wished he could eat one. Seeing how much Mokuba really wanted one, Seto had determined that he would go today—which was the grand opening—and buy him one.

Their adopted father did not condone buying them sweets, thinking it would spoil them, and so the only way Mokuba would be getting his cake was if Seto went and bought it himself. Of course, this meant that Seto had to sneak away from school to do so. So far, he had dodged his chauffeur, and by the time the man realized something was wrong, he would probably be at the bakery already.

The young boy's eyes flickered to the small map in the bottom corner of the flyer and quickly ascertained his bearings. If he went through the park and then turned right, crossed the street and turned left he should be able to see it right away…

Looking up, Seto walked quickly towards the park he spotted up ahead. He would go in and buy a cake for Mokuba (and maybe one for himself if they had something not as sweet) and then head back to the mansion by bus. The young boy had already looked up which one he would need to take, and had brought more than enough of his allowance money with him in order to pay for both the cakes and transportation.

Not bothering to walk all the way to the gate, Seto hoisted himself over the railing that enclosed the park. As he walked through, he saw several children from his school. Some were laughing and jumping around on the play structure, a couple of girls were sitting on the swings looking at a magazine, and a few more were running around playing tag, screaming: 'You're it!'

His eyes passed over them quickly, just barely taking them in. He never had time to play, what with the extra schoolwork his adopted father made him do, and he certainly didn't have time to do so now. He had a mission to accomplish and nothing was going to stop him.

Or so he thought, as he marched through the playground, his vision focused on the northern exit. However, as he approached the gate, he heard a strange sound—one that was completely out of place in a park such as this.

Turning his head towards the sound, he saw a girl a few years younger than him sitting on a bench crying. She had short, auburn hair and was wearing an unfamiliar school uniform, which confused Seto profoundly. His school was the only one nearby, so what was a little girl from another school doing all the way here?

Well, it was none of his business, anyway… He should just keep walking and get on with his business. Though he did feel a bit of guilt tugging at him as he took a step forward—the girl _was_ crying and no one else seemed to care. Maybe she was lost; after all, she certainly didn't live in this area if her uniform was any indication.

Deciding that he would feel bad later if he didn't at least _ask_ the girl if she needed help, he approached her carefully.

"Umm… is something wrong?" he asked awkwardly as he stopped about a foot in front of the girl.

The young girl looked up at him in surprise with big hazel eyes that were puffy from crying. After a few long seconds, she gasped and ducked her head down, her short hair obscuring her face as she seemed to shrink back onto the bench. At this point, he noticed that she was clutching a striped, orange stuffed cat. Seto couldn't help but smile a little. She was just like Mokuba, who always liked to carry around the teddy bear he'd gotten from their biological parents.

"… om… to… gers…" the girl murmured from behind the curtain of her auburn hair, clutching her cat closer to her chest.

"What?" he asked, unable to understand her mumbles.

"… Mom… said not to… talk to… strangers…" she repeated, just loud enough for him to hear.

Well, no wonder she looked so lost, then. She probably hadn't tried to ask anyone for directions. Anyway, didn't that only apply to creepy adults trying to kidnap you?

"Here, how about I tell you my name? Then I won't be a stranger anymore," he said. "I'm Seto."

The girl looked up at him in surprise and blinked several times.

"Well, what's _your_ name?" Seto prompted with a small smile, trying to look encouraging.

"Umm… it's Serenity…" she answered slowly.

"So, Serenity, are you lost? You're not from around here, are you? I mean, you don't go to my school," he said, gesturing at her clothes.

"Y-Yeah…" the girl answered. "I… I was trying to go to this new bakery… but I got lost… and… and…"

Suddenly she started to sniffle and a sob hiccuped out of her throat as he saw tears start to form in her eyes again.

"Hey! Don't cry!" he exclaimed. He hated to see Mokuba cry—he wanted him to always be smiling—and even though this little girl wasn't his sibling, it still disconcerted him. "If you're talking about the new bakery, do you mean this one?"

He shoved the paper in front of her face and the girl's face brightened immediately.

"That's it!" Serenity cried, wiping the tears off her face with her sleeve. "Umm, could I borrow that?"

Seto shrugged and handed the flyer to her. He didn't need it anyway now that he knew where it was. The boy was about to tell her that she could keep it and that, now that she'd stopped crying, he'd be going. However, he then noticed that she was squinting at the paper and a frown pulled at her mouth.

"What is it?" he asked. She _looked_ old enough to read.

"Umm… the words are so small… I… I can't make them out…" she said quietly.

Too small? Did she need glasses maybe?

"Well… you're trying to go there, right? I'm heading there as well… so, I guess I wouldn't mind taking you there, too," he replied after a moment of thought. She looked so downtrodden that he didn't have the heart to just leave her sitting there, especially since they were bound for the same destination.

"R-Really?" Serenity exclaimed with a gasp. "Thank you!"

The way she reacted really did remind him of Mokuba. They both got the same excited look in their eyes when something went their way.

"Well, let's go then," he replied, nodding towards the gate near them.

The girl hopped off the bench and followed him as he quickly exited the park. Turning right and walking up the street, they stopped at the intersection, waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green.

Less than a minute later, the light flashed from red to green and as Seto stepped forward, he unconsciously stretched out his hand towards the girl and he looked down in surprise when she grabbed it. He was so used to taking Mokuba's hand when they crossed the street that he hadn't even realized he'd offered her his hand. She clearly didn't see anything wrong with it, probably used to taking someone's hand herself, since she stared back at him inquisitively as their eyes met.

Shaking it off, Seto turned to look forward again and led Serenity across the road. The little girl made no attempt to let go of his hand as they stepped onto the curb of the opposite sidewalk and Seto soon forgot he was even holding her hand as they turned at the next street and the bakery came into sight.

There were many people walking in and out of the building, and both children stared in wonder at the store. It was much bigger than either of them had anticipated.

"There're so many people… I hope there's still cake left…" he muttered to himself.

"There's no cake left?" Serenity asked, looking up at him with a horrified expression on her face.

"Er… Of course there are," Seto replied curtly, tugging her along as he marched into the bakery. Or at least there had better be…

As they entered, both children gasped and immediately gravitated towards a nearby display. Inside, sitting on ornamental platters, were dozens of desserts. Seto didn't particularly care for sweet things, but even _his_ mouth watered a little at the beautifully-decorated cakes.

"Why, hello there," a female voice said from behind the counter. "Are you and your sister here to buy some cake? What would you like? Today, everything is 20% off."

"She's not… nevermind…" he started, but stopped himself. He didn't really want to explain the whole strange situation. "Do you have any more chocolate lava cakes?"

"Yes, we still have a few left. And what would you like, sweetie?" the attendant asked, looking at Serenity. "Haha, I see you have your eye on the strawberry shortcake. Would you like that one?"

Seto glanced over Serenity's crouched form and saw that she was indeed eyeing the slices of strawberry shortcake. He had to admit, they looked pretty good; three big strawberries sat atop each of the generous pieces and they were decorated with large dollops of whipped cream.

"Oh… ummm… No, I'll take a chocolate lava cake, too," she said, looking a little disappointed.

"Alright, I'll go get them for you then. Just a moment, please."

"Um, could you please put them in separate boxes?" Seto said quickly before the attendant disappeared. Turning back to Serenity, he saw that she was still staring sadly at the shortcake.

"If you want the strawberry one so bad, why didn't you just get it?" he asked.

Serenity looked up at him, her face turning red.

"Uh… well… it's not for me. The cake, I mean. It's for my big brother. It's his birthday today… and I wanted to get him a cake… and he doesn't like strawberries, but he does like chocolate…"

"Then why don't you buy two? They're not that expensive, and you're practically drooling on the display case," he replied with a small smirk. His grin faded, however, when he saw Serenity's features droop.

"Umm… I only have enough to get one… I don't get much for my allowance, and I've saved it up for two months…"

Seto opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the attendant returned with two small boxes.

"Okay, that'll be $6.99 per slice, so in total it'll be $13.98," she said as she handed them each a box.

Serenity put the box on the floor and Seto's eyes widened as he saw her reach _into_ her stuffed cat. It took him a moment to realize that there was a zipper on the back of it and that there was a pocket inside. She pulled out a handful of coins and stood up on her toes to drop them into the woman's outstretched hand.

Shaking his head, he reached into the schoolbag slung across his shoulder and pulled out his wallet. However, as he was about to pull out a $10.00 bill, he hesitated. After another moment of thought, he flipped past it and pulled out a $20.00.

"Actually, could you also get me one of those strawberry shortcakes?" he asked as he handed over the bill.

"Of course. Here, I'll get you your change first and then wrap one up… So, that'll be $6.02 for you."

Glancing at Serenity from the corner of his eyes, he saw that she was pouting. He couldn't help but smirk, but refrained from saying anything to her. A moment later, the attendant returned with another small box and handed it to him.

"Have a nice day, you two!"

"C'mon, Serenity, let's go outside," he said, walking towards the exit. The young girl gave a noncommittal mumble before hugging her cat and cake box close to her and following him out the door.

Once they stepped outside, he looked around quickly and found a bench a few steps from the entrance. Setting the boxes and his school bag on one end he sat down and turned to look at Serenity. She stood several steps away with a small frown on her face, a slight pout still on her face.

"What're you standing there for? You don't want to eat the cake?" he asked innocently as he opened the box containing the strawberry shortcake. Inside, alongside the cake, the attendant had packed a small fork and a napkin. He flicked open the other box and pulled out another fork, waving it at her.

Her eyes widened in delight and in an instant she was on the bench next to him.

"Really?" she asked, setting her cat-purse and cake down carefully on the bench before taking the fork he proffered.

"Yeah, I got the chocolate cake for my brother, too. I kinda wanted to get something for myself, but I don't want to eat this much cake anyway," he replied with a shrug as he used his fork to cut the strawberry shortcake in half.

"Thanks, Seto!" Serenity chirped as they each took a bite of the cake.

It was delicious.

* * *

Aaannd that was completely pointless. But, hey, it was just a little idea that was floating around in my head. I realize that Kaiba is probably completely OOC, but like I said before, he's only been adopted for a few months at this point, so Gozaburo hasn't had too much time to turn him into a twisted super-human (and he _is_ just a kid at this point).

Also, yeah, Serenity would get kidnapped so fast. She's a pretty silly 8 year-old, wandering across town to buy her brother a piece of cake (she snuck away just like Seto did, in case that didn't come across), but it's a good thing it was Seto who found her (and probably helped her get to Joey's too, for that matter). Oh well… This kinda stuff happens all the time…in anime.

Either way, I hope that was somewhat enjoyable, and thanks for reading! Please leave a review with your thoughts!

-FireEdge-


End file.
